Three-and-out: Jets-Giants preseason observations

Eli Manning threw his first touchdown of the preseason against the Jets. (Anthony Gruppuso, USA TODAY Sports)

Three observations from Friday night’s preseason game between the Giants and Jets, won by the (visiting) Giants 35-24:

Giants No. 1 offense up in the air: Big Blue’s new-look attack has been mostly horrid throughout four preseason games but at least ended Friday night on a positive note. After QB Eli Manning and Co. were largely ineffective in their first five drives — all ending in punts — things got moving with a no-huddle, two-minute offense to end the first half. Manning capped the 11-play, 91-yard drive with a 15-yard TD pass — his first of preseason — to WR Rueben Randle. But lots of concern here. Manning still doesn’t look particularly comfortable, and the Jets defense repeatedly exploited the weak O-line of their cross-town rivals. RB Rashad Jennings (67 yards on 13 carries Friday) remains the brightest light on the offense for now and may have to be the go-to guy early on until Manning and first-year OC Ben McAdoo iron out the passing game.

Ganging up Green: As inept as the Giants offense was, Rex Ryan’s Jets D deserves credit for its showing up until it surrendered the long TD drive before halftime. Prior to that, the Jets allowed just 78 yards while forcing those five punts. The front seven swarmed nicely, collecting two sacks and forcing two fumbles (both recovered by the Giants), and CBs Antonio Allen and Darrin Walls made some nice plays in coverage for a depleted secondary. But then Manning exposed a pass defense that could be the team’s Achilles, especially after the unit only got thinner when versatile and promising Allen was forced from the game with a head injury.

No QB controversy … for now: Though the Jets have yet to officially anoint QB Geno Smith as the starter for the 2014 season, there’s virtually no chance the job will go to Michael Vick, especially in the wake of Smith’s promising performance Friday. He made several nice throws — not all of them caught, including a shoulda-been TD to WR Eric Decker — and continued to judiciously mix in low-risk runs when the coverage was too tight to pass. If Smith can maintain such efficient play (9-for-14, 137 yards, TD, 120.2 passer rating) and get support from a defense and running attack (146 yards Friday) that look like top-10 units, the Jets’ 2014 outlook seems promising enough.